Product Description

Through criticizing Darwin's beliefs and attitudes towards the other, Jerry Bergman uses the insanity and depression that ran in Darwin's family, as well as his poor health, to attack his thoughts on evolution. Evaluating whether Darwin's metal health problems were due to his conflicts with theism, exposing where Darwin's work would in modern times be deemed plagiarism, and noting unethical scholarship due to using doctored photographs, Bergman links Darwin's ideas to racism, sexism, Laissez-faire capitalism, communism, and Nazism. 270 pages, softcover.

Publisher's Description

A single man stands behind the greatest deception in history. Charles Darwin's ideas still penetrate every aspect of our culture, including science, religion, and education. And while much has been made of his contribution to the evolutionary hypothesis, little has been publicized about the dark side of the man himself and how this may have impacted the quality and legitimacy of his research.

This daring and compelling book takes its readers behind the popular fa ade of a man revered worldwide as a scientific pioneer, and unveils what kind of person Darwin really was. The book reveals disturbing facts that will help you:

Perceive Darwin firsthand through the eyes of family and friends, and his own correspondence. Discern this darkly troubled man, struggling with physical and mental health issues. Uncover his views on eugenics and racism, and his belief that women were less evolved than men.

ChristianBookPreviews.com

Jerry Bergman's The Dark Side of Darwin is a smart book, with all the good and bad connotations that entails. It starts out strong by stating a clearly defined purpose: to remove the notion of Darwin being a saint of science. In secular circles, Darwin has been elevated to the status of a demigod without fault or schemea humble scientist who, by accident as much as by genius, formulated the most revolutionary theory of the age. The Dark Side of Darwin means to remove the misconception.

Exhaustively researched and carefully compiled, this is unquestionably the work of a die-hard academic. Bergman is careful not to overlook even a single detail of Darwin's deception, and he labors to identify every chink in Darwin's centuries-old armor. Nothing escapes Bergmans scrutiny.

Despite all that, there are some caveats. Though the intention of removing Darwins glamour is admirable (and biblical, as Jeremiah 5:1 declares that the Lord blesses those who seek the truth), the execution here is a little lacking because of two problems. The first is a tragic problem of perception. No matter how careful Bergman is and no matter how noble his intentions, no one can cast aspersions on Darwins character without the effort appearing to be a smear campaign. Bergman has been careful and his intentions are noble, but many people will overlook all his points because they assume the book is only mud-slinging.

The second is a problem of production. As stated, this book is smart; one might even say it's a little too smart. Bergman has written a book that will be lauded by scientists and lawyers because it is extraordinarily thorough, but for the lay reader, "thorough" can descend rapidly into "repetitive."

All in all, the book is a strong work of academia, but readers seeking less scholarly fare will want to search elsewhere.  Chandler Birch, www.ChristianBookPreviews.com

I have been a Christian for forty years now. Before that I was an atheist. As an atheist, I did believe in Evolution. I did because that's the only explanation I was taught about life and its origins in both secondary and university levels. I didn't really know anything about Creationism because I had never heard of it. So I believed in Evolution mainly, if not exclusively, because I was told to believe in it. But I always had one problem with it, namely, the problem of origins and the beginning of life. I was told at the university level by a professor of biology that "It is impossible for life to come from non-living substances, and for the universe to have created itself from nothing, but nevertheless both happened." I thought that that was a bit odd and absurd. In addition, I thought that If nothing existed 15 billion years ago, then nothing would exist today. That's the reason I began to suspect that an eternal, non-contingent and infinitely intelligent Being created the universe and life. Before experiencing that epiphany, however, I continued to believe in Evolution, not because the evidence for its veracity was overwhelming, but because there was nothing else to believe--so I thought. Then I was converted to Christianity, and everything became clear. The story about origins contained in Genesis made much more sense to me than what I was previously taught. I soon became convinced that the Theory of Evolution (and I mean Macroevolution) became so popular so quickly, not because of overwhelming empirical evidence, but because it seemed to be a sophisticated and rational way to eradicate God. I realized through studying the Bible that fallen man wants nothing more that to eradicate God from his thinking. Bergam's book confirmed this even further. I had no idea about all the things he says about Darwin in his book. Darwin was a "sick" man. And as Bergman points out, Darwin's many illnesses were due, in part, to his conflict with Theism. Darwin struggled with Theism as I struggled with Macroevolution, although my struggle didn't make me ill as it did Darwin. This is the most eye-opening book I have ever read (beside the books of the Bible, of course). I wonder why such information about Darwin didn't make it into our textbooks? The only and obvious reason I can think of is censorship. Man's desire to eradicate God from his thinking is so strong that it caused this censorship. I highly recommend that both Evolutionists and Creationists read this book. I guarantee you will never be the same again.

I have to agree with Daniel above, you are not going to get deeper and pertinent information about the man, Charles Darwin, then you will in this book. Easy to read, and incredibly thorough. If you are struggling with Darwinism, or know someone who is willing to look at it's earliest beginnings, this book is the one to buy or give. The author has spent a long time studying this enigmatic figure, and has written several other books about Darwinism and it's tragic effects. This book will prepare you well. Must read

Many Christians are aware of a few key points in Charles Darwin's story. We have heard of his daughter's childhood death and that connection to his subsequent attempts to argue against God's existence. This book digs deeper - far deeper.

It explores his mental health, offering citations from Darwin's own writings connecting his mental health issues to (in his own words) his attempts to "murder God." It discusses Darwin's obsession with wantonly killing animals, and how that ultimately morphed into his "survival of the fittest" theory.

It offers straightforward documentation of how evolution led to his blatant racism, support for eugenics, and view that women were inferior creatures.

But the book's most valuable and surprising contribution is its shockingly persuasive case that Darwin committed extensive plagiarism, schemed to get his work to market before authors he'd plagiarized, and covered up their influence on his own work.

The book concludes with a summary of some of the weaknesses in Darwin's core research, including the core flaw: While he could argue for survival of the fittest, he was unable to explain arrival of the fittest.

This book is a worthy addition to the bookshelf of any Christian who has occasion to defend his faith.

Some book reviews are pretty easy to write. Some are not. This one falls in the latter category.

I've had this book in my possession for about two months now, and I'll give my overall opinion up front: this is a well-researched book that contains a lot of information that simply isn't presented about Darwin anymore. I am glad to have read it.

There is a lot of information in this book, much of it from Darwin's own words, or from the words of his contemporaries. This book covers a lot of ground. The fourteen chapters are split into four basic sections: Darwin and Christianity; Darwin and Mental Health; Darwin and His Theory; and Darwin, Racism and Sexism.

I think why this book took me so long to read was that that second section was tough to read. The sections in a bit more detail:

* Christianity -- this included a lot of information about what Darwin's beliefs really seemed to be, and how Darwinism and Atheism go hand in hand. Some of this was really interesting reading, particularly information about using creationist terminology to make some of the arguments for evolution.

* Mental Health -- these three chapters were definitely my least favorite. I do think his mental health issues need to be addressed, but they were still hard to read chapters. The final chapter in this section, about Darwin's love of killing, contained more information I had not seen before. It did make me think.

* Darwin's Theory -- okay, here is where I started to really appreciate this book. Fairly lengthy discussions about plagiarism were fascinating. The case was strongly made that Darwin not only liberally "borrowed" the thoughts -- and words -- of a lot of other people, but that he blatantly lied about it as well. And then there was extensive discussion about his scholarship and some of the main components of his theory.

* Racism and Sexism -- I've read a fair amount about Darwin and racism, but the presentation here was excellent, including a lot I had not seen elsewhere. Likewise, I've seen a lot about Darwin and eugenics, with the presentation here being good too. Darwin's views on women, however, I've really never encountered before. A lot of the actual Darwin quotes in this chapter come from The Descent of Man. To summarize: white men are the most evolved animals on the planet. Women, and men of other races, are slightly more evolved than male apes. Lovely. Of course, most of Darwin's ideas about "lesser races" and women have been scientifically proven to be in error. Nevertheless, Darwinism asserts that the superiority of men is a central premise in survival of the fittest.

My primary criticism of the book is that at times it read like a series of essays. There were a couple of times I was certain I had just read exactly the same thing a chapter before, and in turning back, I had.

Disclaimer: I received this book for free through the Page Turners program from New Leaf Publishing Group. No other compensation was received. The fact that I received a complimentary product does not guarantee a favorable review.

I know this is a touchy subject for many people. After all, Charles Darwin seems to be a scientific hero for anyone who rejects the Biblical account of Creation (and even for some who claim to believe the Bible). While I haven't read a great amount about Darwin himself, I have gathered a pretty good picture from the hundreds of his "followers" I have talked to. However, if you're interested in hearing the other side of the story-documented facts, not just Bible-believers taking potshots at him-you need to read The Dark Side of Darwin by Dr. Jerry Bergman. Dr. Bergman does an excellent job of unearthing the truth about Darwin the man. The book is written in an easy-to-read fashion, and really held my attention. I brought the book on a recent road trip, and it made the miles pass by very quickly! Even though I had some idea of Darwin's deception, I was overwhelmed at the documentation (Darwin's personal letters, etc.) that Dr. Bergman produced to show how zealous he was in his effort to overturn Biblical authority. I also found the chapter on Darwin and racism very interesting. We often get accused of being racist (which we are certainly not!), and the evolution believers try to pass themselves off as tolerant and loving. Yet, one of their greatest heroes, Charles Darwin himself, calling the Fuegian Indians "stunted miserable wretches" and "less gifted animals", for example.

This is an excellent book that would be great for Christians (or really anyone) who honestly wants to discover the truth about Darwin and his beliefs. If you're tired of hearing lies, deceptions, and men's idealistic views about Charles, then this is the book you need to read!